Author: Marketforces Africa

Analysts Raise Target Price for BUA Cement, Expect Margin to Recover Analysts at CardinalStone Limited have increased their 12-month target price (TP) for BUA Cement Plc to N66.17 at a reference market price of N83.70—suggesting the company is currently overvalued. BUA Cement Plc has been flattish at N83.7 in the stock market amidst fluctuation in trading volume.  “We have revised BUA Cement’s 12-month target price upward to N66.17 from N56.46. Despite the upward revision, we retain our sell recommendation on the stock”, CardinalStone told investors in its equities review. The investment firm said the new target price reflects renewed optimism…

Benin Republic Targets 2.9% Fiscal Deficit to GDP in 2025 The Republic of Benin’s authorities and International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff have reached a staff-level agreement on the sixth review under the Extended Fund and Credit Facilities (EFF/ECF)-supported program and the third review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement. In a statement, the IMF said the economic transformation in Benin continues, with higher value-added goods exports and momentum in information technology. The country’s economic growth in 2024 was 7.5 percent, outperforming initial projections. Amidst a sequence of policy implementations, the Republic of Benin has converged to the West…

Sterling Bank Scraps Transfer Fees on ‘OneBank’ Sterling Bank has scrapped transfer fees on its OneBank digital platform in a bold move that promises to reset the rules in the Nigerian banking sector. Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Abubakar Suleiman, revealed this during a news conference in Lagos. He said the initiative reflects the bank’s commitment to affordable, accessible banking for Nigerians. According to him, the bank is the first major Nigerian lender to forgo earning a cut from customer transactions on its own app, marking a significant shift in the industry. “We believe that banking should be a…

Dollar Index Falls to 3-Year Low as Fears of Holding Greenback Grows The US dollar lost against trading pairs of the euro and sterling, including the Japanese yen, in the foreign exchange market amidst fears about the global trade outlook. Forex traders are increasingly wary of holding the US dollar amid all the tariff tantrum that’s going on between the US and China, which will deflate global economic growth and fuel inflation. The sentiment reflects on the dollar index, which fell by over 1% to 99.7 on Friday, its lowest level in nearly three years, as investors continued to pull…

US Energy Agency Cuts Brent Price Forecast to $67.87 The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revised down the price of Brent crude for 2025, as rising oil inventories are expected to lower prices. The average Brent crude oil price for this year is expected to be $67.87 per barrel, down from the previous forecast of $74.22, according to the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released late Thursday. The average price forecast for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude has also been revised downward, from $70.68 to $63.88 per barrel. The anticipated inventory increase is attributed to several factors, including a loosening…

Equities Investors Gain N378bn as GTCO, Zenith Boost Banking Index Equities investors trading highs and lows in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) platform gained about N378 billion as price appreciation in GTCO, Zenith, and Fidelity Bank boosted the banking index. Banking index rose by 265 basis points due to gain in ZENITHBANK (+4.0%), GTCO (+2.6%), and FIDELITYBK (+8.9%). The market closed positive, reversing the previous session’s loss as investor sentiment improved. Hence, year-to-date return advanced to 1.8% as key market performance indicators rose by 0.58%. The market rebound was driven by bargain hunting in some stocks that recently faced sell pressures,…

US Treasuries No Longer Global Fixed Income Safe Haven The sell-off in US Treasuries on Wednesday sends a clear message: the world’s most trusted sovereign debt is no longer the ultimate safe harbour for investors—and the fallout could ultimately threaten the dollar’s supremacy too. This is the alarming warning from Nigel Green, CEO and Founder of global financial advisory giant, deVere Group, as US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on major trading partners took hold on Wednesday, and the traditional stability of Treasuries was upended. Yields surged dramatically, with the 10-year Treasury yield hitting 4.51% before easing to 4.42%—still a…

Bitcoin Dips Below $78k as Institutional Liquidation Fears Mount The cryptocurrency market experienced heightened volatility as Bitcoin’s price fell below the psychological threshold of $78,000 triggering widespread concern among investors and analysts. All the top 10 cryptocurrency came under side side actors knives amidst shift in global sentiment. The decline came in the wake of mounting speculation that several major institutional holders were in the process of liquidating substantial Bitcoin positions. According to data reported by The Wall Street Journal, more than $1.2 billion in bullish crypto positions were liquidated over a 24-hour period. These liquidations were largely concentrated in…

GTCO Slips Slightly Ahead of Dividend Payment Guaranty Trust Holdings Company (GTCO) Plc slid slightly in the equities market ahead of its annual shareholders meeting, where the proposed final dividend of N7.03 for 2024 will be approved for payment. The orange-branded financial services company stock shed about 2% of its market price to close at N64.8 on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) trading platform on Wednesday, from N65.95. In the market, more than 62.882 million shares of GTCO valued at N4.05 billion were traded by alpha seekers in the local bourse. In terms of volume, GTCO led the activity chart,…

Oando Rebounds with 6.6% Price Uptick after Sell Heat Indigenous oil company Oando Plc’s share price rebounded in the equities market, rising by approximately 6.6% in the equities market as investors began to make fresh bargains on the energy stocks. Trading data showed that about 9.5 million shares of Oando Plc valued at N384.278 billion exchanged hands in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange today. MarketForces Africa reported that Oando saw its maximum allowable daily gain of 10% during the intraday trading session before it retreated before the closing session. Stock analysts said recent past transaction records on Oando…